The Only Game
by callitintheair
Summary: After Mary’s death John refused to let his wrath and grief overpower his life, so instead of hunting he became obsessed with something else. AU PreSeries.
1. Chapter 1

The Only Game

Chapter 1

Summary: Instead of trying to avenge Mary's death, John put his aggression into something else. AU

Note: This is my first story, but you don't have to be gentle—I want the truth! I can handle it... I think. Your comments and suggestions are welcome, especially your suggestions. I hope you enjoy...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

* * *

"**What do ya think? You think Sammy's ready to toss around a football yet?"**

———————————————————————

John Winchester had been devastated, to say the least, after his wife, and the love of his life, Mary had died in a horrible fire that had nearly claimed the lives of the whole family. He was adamant that what he had seen that night, his bride of 7 years pinned to the ceiling with her stomach cut open, was nothing more then nightmare or perhaps a strange reaction to the smoke. 'That's it,' John would tell himself, 'just a really weird side effect of smoke inhalation.' Whatever it was, John knew he needed to get it out of his head and quickly, before it consumed him and his young sons. He needed to keep himself and his boys busy...

What had started out as an innocent pastime and a good way to send quality his sons, quickly turned into an obsession. Mere weeks after Mary's premature death John started to drill football into the boys' heads. At six Dean could throw a football harder and further than most boys twice his age and before little Sammy even took his first step he knew how to properly hold a football.

When Dean was old enough to play in a starter league John moved the family to Texas, where one of the top ranking high school football teams nationwide was located. One of the added benefits was that they now lived only an hour from John's parents and siblings, so the boys would get to grow up with their cousins. John's parent's Jim and Amy, of course, were ecstatic about the move, Dean and Sam were their only grandsons. John's brother Bobby and his wife Beth had twin girls Emma and Tina who were 15 and John's sister Ellen and her husband Henry and two girls Cara and Jo who were 18 and 16 respectively. John's younger brother Caleb was not yet married, he was the 'fun' uncle. Nevertheless, the most appealing aspect to John, was that the town lived and breathed football and so did he.

Dean loved football, for many reasons, he loved the game, he loved the way he felt when his team won, not to mention he got to kick ass without getting into any trouble, and the girls it attracted weren't half bad either. Dean was 18 this year, a senior finally, at 6 feet 2 inches of shear muscle, he was well built to say the least and he was the starting quarterback for the Reed High (RHS) Warriors, the number one high school football team in the nation.

Sam, unfortunately, did not share Dean's enthusiasm for the sport, he did not really care about the injuries, although both he and Dean had received their fair share, Sam more often then Dean it seemed, John would say that it was because Sam never had his head in the game. Sam honestly could not say why did not like the sport, he was never able to pin point it. He did not hate it, but he was never excited about waking up at 4:30AM for John's per-practice practices, as Dean was.

Sam had always been a scrawny child with long thin legs, but even more so since he had turned 14. He had had growth spurt and being stretched out those extra few inches, quite frankly, made him look malnourished. Sam was 14 and a sophomore this year, since he had skipped the 6th grade, he was 5 feet 9 inches, and growing like a weed. Although, he was not ripped like his older brother, he was more strong and muscular then he appeared, which was an asset on the field. He was really not looking forward to this season, last year there was no chance in hell that he would be put in a real game, no matter how talented the player the coach did not ever put freshmen in. Last year he was just a mobile tackle dummy along with the other freshmen and he was okay with that; but this year, although the chance of him playing were slim, they were much more realistic then last year, he was now on the third string.

The boys both had their own expertise on the field. Dean could throw with such strength and precision that he was unmatched by anyone in their league, he was a great all-around player, but he had an amazing arm. The baseball coach was always trying to recruit him.

Sam could run, he ran so fast the coach said that the devil himself must chase Sam down that field and he could out maneuver just about anyone. He was not a strong all-around player like Dean, who could probably play any position well, but damn the boy could run.

Like the baseball coach was after Dean, the track coach was after Sam, but John only had eyes for football, he said the boys needn't waste their time on other sports.

John was a football Nazi. He had the boys training all year around—rain, snow, hail, unbearable heat—John did not care. Dean had once asked if he could get a summer job, John had replied in no uncertain terms that football was his job.

But, it was August now and all other things were pushed aside, in fact 'other things' ceased to exist, because tomorrow the Reed High School Warriors were having their first official preseason practice for the upcoming season...

* * *

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I made up this school and that they were the #1 high school football team in the nation. I didn't want any hard-core football fanatics coming after me, so I just made up a school, the #1 high school football team is in Texas though:). Actually I do know of a Reed High School, but they are definitely not #1 and I'm pretty sure they're not the Warriors.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Only Game:** Chapter 2

Note: I'm not here to pressure anybody, but I'm just saying...if you wanted to review, that'd be okay—really.

* * *

"Sam, wake up." Dean said in a singsong voice, "Sammy..." 

Sam opened his eyes and turned to look at the clock on his nightstand, which read 6:00AM. "You gotta be kidding me," he growled.

"Nup," Dean said in voice that was entirely too perky for such an ungodly hour and a grin to match, "You know what day it is."

"Christmas?" Sam muttered, of course he knew what day it was—the first Monday of August, the first day of football practice. Although in a town that was so obsessed with football, such as this, the first day of football was a holiday.

"Even better," Dean replied throwing off Sam's covers in one swift motion. "Hurry up, Dad says we gotta run before breakfast and if we don't make it back in 20 minutes we have to go again."

"Ya know _normal_ kids sleep 'til noon in the summer." Sam told Dean, who was already dressed in his workout clothes.

"That's cuz they're losers who can't make the team. Now hurry up before it gets too hot!" With that Dean left the room.

"It's six-a-freakin' clock!" Sam mumbled to himself as he changed into sum workout clothes.

Dean popped his head back in the room "Dad says to stop talking to yourself and hurry up."

"Tell Dad to shove it." Sam whispered to himself.

"What was that Freakazoid?"

"I said I'll be there in a minute."

"Whatever Dork"

* * *

The boys trotted along at a leisurely pace, they did their normal route around town, waving and saying 'hello' to friends and neighbors that they passed on the way. "I can't wait to see all that freshmeat." Dean snickered as they went. 

'Freshmeat', as Dean so eloquently put it, was a term of endearment used for all freshmen and new transfer students that were joining the team. Sam felt a ping a pity for those poor lowly freshmen and transfers, he still remembered the torture the upperclassmen had put him through the pervious year.

Team initiation had been a bitch, the veterans had blindfolded all the new kids and took them to the middle of nowhere, hours from town and made them find their way home on foot. It was such a long standing tradition and the town was so obsessed with football, that the adults accepted and even encouraged it as a rite of passage for all 'freshmeat'.

Fortunately for Sam, he hadn't been forced to walk the whole way back to town, because Dean had discovered that Sam he forgot his inhaler in the car. Sam had mild asthma, it had been bad when he was younger, but now it rarely bothered him in football, with the exception of the first few hard-core practices and weather changes.

"You guys are so mean," Sam said.

"'You guys'? You're one of us now and it's tradition Sammy there's nothing mean about it." Dean argued.

"When someone enjoys it as much as you do, Dean, it's mean"

"We all had to go through it, it's only fair, besides what are you complaining about? I picked your ass up."

"You didn't need to, I was fine."

"It was dusty out there, you could have had an attack."

"You could've just tossed me my inhaler and gone home."

Dean shrugged, "It was getting dark and you should be thankful, those other kids didn't get home til dawn."

Sam couldn't argue with that. "How much time do we have?" Sam asked.

Dean glanced down at his watch "Crap! Speed it up, we only have 4 minutes and I'm not going again."

They were still a ways from home when they broke into a full sprint. Sam burst through the door seconds ahead of Dean, but John waited until both boys got inside before calling out "19 minutes and 50 seconds." He looked down at the boys, who were lying on their backs panting, "You boys are lucky you have practice today, I don't want to wear you out before Coach Joe gets a hold of you. Hurry up and shower, breakfast is almost ready."

Sam and Dean eyed each other suspiciously for a moment before jumping to their feet and running upstairs to the bathroom. Sam was only a little in front of Dean, when he was tackled to the ground from behind "oof!" Sam grunted.

Dean dot back to his feet "Sucker!" He taunted from inside the bathroom before turning on the water.

"Jerk!" Sam yelled, pounding on the door with his fist for good measure.

"Bitch!"

* * *

Note: Next chapter I'll do the first football practice. 


	3. Chapter 3

**The Only Game:** Chapter 3

Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry, it took so long.

* * *

"Dean practice doesn't even start for another 30 minutes." Sam whined.

"Oh, quit being a whinny little girl Samantha," Dean replied. "Besides you know Coach doesn't like to waste practice time on warm ups."

That was definitely true and Coach Joe was very put off by tardiness, for every kid who was late the team had to run a lap around the field. The other boys did not appreciate those extra laps on top of a full two-hour practice, but they usually got their revenge during tackle drills.

Sam and Dean changed into their practice gear, for the first week of practice, they didn't need helmets, and on the second week, they were assigned practice jerseys. When the boys were done with their warm ups their teammates stared to arrive, among which were Sam and Dean's best friends. Shey Kille was Sam's best friend, he was 15 years old and about Dean's size, he had long hair that was such a light blond that it was nearly white and hazel eyes, he and Dean also shared similar personalities. Ross Barnes was Dean's best friend, he was 18 years old, Ross was a big guy, 6'6 and weighing in at just under 300 pounds, he had short dark hair and blue eyes, and he was very easy going, a push over really.

The coaches, Joe and Eddy, entered the locker room, "When your done come to the weight room," Joe ordered in his thick southern draw, "and don't come until you've warmed up." With that, they turned and left.

"Come on Sammy." Dean called patting Ross on the back and warning him not to be late.

"See ya." Sam told Shey. He got up from the bench that he had been sitting on and followed Dean to the weight room, where the coaches were smacking their gum and discussing the upcoming season.

"Boys," Joe greeted and Eddy nodded in their direction. "How's your daddy?"

"He's good." Dean replied, Coach Joe and John were close friends.

"Has he been workin' you boys good during the off season?" Joe asked.

"You know he has." Dean said.

"Good then maybe you boys won't be dying today like the others." The coach said. Sam just laughed, no matter how much training John put them through nothing could compare them for the first week of practice. Joe looked down at his watch. "Those boys better hurry up or else y'all are gonna have a lotta extra laps to run. If they I think I'm goin' easy on 'em cuz it's the first week of practice they got another think comin'."

"Excuse me." Dean said, he hurried back to the locker room, "Everyone better hurry up!" he yelled, "If I have to run extra laps for your lazy asses, you're gonna be sorry." Dean went back to the weight room and sure enough, the boys started trickling in.

Coach Joe's timer went off signaling the start of practice and a few seconds after that three freshmen wondered in. The whole team was glaring at them, but the three boys were oblivious until Coach Joe announced, "Alright everyone, these are the boy you can thank for your three extra laps at the end of practice." He turned to the three freshmen, "We take this team very seriously, we have been number one in the national ranks for going on five years now and I won't have you or anyone else holding up my practice, because we intend to stay number one... Do you understand?"

"Yes." The three boys replied in unison, the utter calmness of the coach's voice and the glares from their teammates were quite intimidating.

"Excuse me?" Joe said, "I don't know who you played for before and I don't care, but on this team we say 'yes sir'—now try again"

"Yes Sir." The boys said.

"Good now take a seat." Joe said, now he was addressing the whole team. "First of all, for all you new players, welcome to the Reed Warriors and for all you returning students, it's good to have you back. I'm sure most of you know I'm you head coach and the offensive coach and this is Coach Eddy the defensive coach. To be on this team you need to be on time, for everyone who is not on time the whole team will be running extra laps at the end of practice. You must be dedicated; if you miss practice, you had better have a damn good reason. This first week is going to be conditioning—" All the boys groaned dramatically. "Whine all you want Ladies, but you'll be thankful in the forth quarter of the game, when the other team is dying and you can run circles around them, that's what sets us apart from other teams, our endurance. Now form a nice pretty little line in front of coach Eddy, you're all going to strip down to your skivvies and weigh in. While you are waiting you will run in place and once you have weighed in you will start running laps outside—and I mean running, I better not see anything less than a full sprint, understood?"

There was a resounding, "Yes Sir!"

"Good, now line up and start runnin'." Dean stepped on the scale; Joe looked him over, while Eddy fiddled with the dial. "You bulked up some from last season. Huh?"

"Yes Sir."

""You're done." Eddy said. "Next."

Sam stepped on the scale and Joe looked him over just as he had done with Dean. "Kid you the scrawniest football player I have ever seen! If you don't put some weight on you'll never get any playing time." Joe reprimanded, that was just what Sam was hoping to hear, and now all he had to do was not put on any weight and he would never have to play!

"Next." Eddy called.

* * *

Sam followed his brother outside, they were the first ones out, but soon a bunch of boys were outside, since neither of the coaches were outside, some of the boys decided to just sit on the benches. The boys who were sitting on the bench were two Juniors Timmy and Greg Allred and a Senior Travis Turner; Sam and Dean knew them well, they were the boys who felt that they were so good that they didn't need to practice, they were arrogant and all around assholes.

It was obvious that they were up to something, they had their backs to the field that their teammates were running on and they were laughing. Everyone ignored them and continued to run, the Warriors had some pretty decent runners, but when Sam was in shape everyone of them ate his dust; however when he wasn't in shape he was somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Dean heard Sam's breathing become less rhythmic and more rapid and wheezy, he had thought himself to listen for any irregularities and it had not gotten bad yet. "Is your inhaler out here?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah it's on the bench."

"Go get it." Dean ordered, although he continued to run he watched carefully as Sam trotted to the bench, fortunately for him Travis, Timmy and Greg weren't there anymore, so he picked his inhaler up, shook it, and took a hit...his heart dropped, it was empty. He inadvertently stared to panic, which made everything worse, he put his inhaler to his mouth again and was hoping against hope that there was something left, there wasn't.

His knees buckled and he would have fallen if Dean hadn't grabbed him, Dean gently guided him to sit on the bench, and then he knelt in front of Sam keeping a firm grip on his shoulders. "Sam...Look at me! What is wrong?" Dean asked. He gave Sam a firm shake to get his attention, Sam was gasping and wheezing too hard to answer, so he held his inhaler out towards Dean with his badly trembling hand. "What's wrong with it? Do you need help?" Dean thought that maybe Sam was shaking too hard to get the medicine out, but Sam shook his head. "No? What's the problem then?" Sam shook the inhaler trying to make Dean understand, it didn't take long. "It's empty?" Dean asked, Sam nodded. "Damn Kiddo, I thought Dad got you a new inhaler—he did, didn't he?" Sam nodded. "Did you use it at all?" Sam shook his head 'no', he was wheezing loudly and he had a death grip in Dean's forearms, from fear and pain. Dean's mind flashed back to Travis, Timmy and Greg standing by the bench laughing, those assholes had been messing with Sam's inhaler! "Damn it!" Dean growled he was going to kill them.

"Dean, is everything okay?" Soft-spoken Ross asked he shook Dean's shoulder, yanking Dean from his thoughts. "Oh geez! Sam!" Ross cried Sam's lips were turning bluish. "Do you need me to get his inhaler?"

"It's right here," Dean snapped. "Those assholes fucked with it! Get coach!" Ross started running to the weight room. "Sammy take deep breaths, in and out, come on, in and out. I know it hurts but just breathe through it, you can do it...just breathe Kiddo." Dean's voice was much more soothing and gentle now that he was addressing Sam, but when Sam slumped limply against Dean's chest, Dean shook him violently. "Sam?—Sammy? Wake up—come on stay awake!" At this point Ross had gotten back with Coach Joe; Dean looked up at them frantically. "Call an ambulance!"

* * *

Dean followed a nurse down the hall, she led him behind a curtain where another nurse was removing an oxygen mask from Sam's mouth and nose and replacing it with a nasal cannula.

"Sammy, are you okay?" Dean asked.

"I'm fine." Sam replied in a scratchy voice.

"Dad'll be here soon."

"Great." Sam muttered sarcastically.

"You scarred the crap out of me Bitch! I'm gonna kill those guys."

"You can't Dean! You'll get kicked off the team and I'm fine."

"Yeah, that's why you're in the hospital."

"The doctor said that as soon as Dad gets here I can go." Sam said. He'd had to have a special breathing treatment and then he was put on oxygen for a while, but he'd been given a new inhaler and he was going to be okay.

"Boys." John greeted gruffly he looked down at Sam. "The nurse says you're fine, you have to sit out at practice for a few days, you better watch carefully, you don't want to get behind. I just hope this isn't an omen for the rest of the season."

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	4. Chapter 4

**The Only Game:**

Chapter 4

Thanks for hanging in there and thanks for your reviews.

* * *

Sam waited at the house while John and Dean went to discuss the incident that had happened at practice with the coaches, the principle, the boys in question and their parents.

Sam, although he was feeling much better, was exhausted from his ordeal and his chest was still aching, but as much as he wanted to take a nap, he could not. The phone hadn't stopped ringing since he had gotten home.

He didn't know how his entire family heard about his hospital visit, but when he found out who told them there would be hell to pay. All of his aunts and uncles had called to check on him and his grandparents would not leave him alone.

The phone rang again, Sam was about to rip his hair out. "Hello?"

"Hi Sweetheart it's Gram again." Amy, John's mother, said.

"Hi Gram." Sam said. He was doing his best not to sound annoyed.

"I was just calling to check up on you. How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine...really."

"I'm just nervous about you being alone. You just got out of the hospital. Promise me that you'll call if you start feeling badly or if you need anything."

"I promise." Sam said then muttered under his breath. "Again..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing Gram I promise, I'll call."

"Okay Sweetheart and don't forget to tell your dad not to worry about dinner, Grandpa and I are bring some soup over."

"I'll tell him." Sam said. He was pretty sure he had just heard a car pull up. "Oh thank goodness."

"Did you say something?"

"I'll tell him Gram, I think they just got back, I better go."

"Okay, I love you, we'll see you soon."

"Love you too, bye." Sam said. He hung up the phone and tossed it aside, seconds later the door opened and Sam went to meet them. "How'd it go?" He asked.

Judging by Dean's facial expression the meeting had gone well. Dean looked very satisfied and pleased with himself. John, however, look a bit pissed off and exasperated.

"All three boys are suspended for a week, when school starts again and Joe kicked them all off the team." John announced then he sighed and glared at Dean. "Your brother, of course, wasn't satisfied with that punishment and he decided to take matters into his own hands and punched John Turner in the face."

Dean smirked. "That jackass deserved it and I would have gotten the other two if you hadn't stopped me. What they did was f-ed up, Sam could have died."

"You broke the kid's nose, you're lucky you weren't suspended from practice."

"I wasn't suspended cuz Coach Joe knows he deserved it."

"Dad, Gram has been calling every five minutes. Did you tell her what happened?" Sam asked in a whiney voice.

"No, you know how your grandmother is, she knows everything—it's spooky." John replied and Dean nodded in agreement.

"Well she says her and Grandpa are bringing some soup over later so you don't have to worry about dinner."

"Soup? I need more then soup!" Dean whined. "Once they leave can we go got some burgers or something?"

"Sure, but we need to clean up the house, it's a mess, your grandmother will have a fit if she sees it like this." John said.

"I'm taking a nap now." Sam tried to make a quick escape to his room, before he could be recruited for clean up and on his way out the phone rang. "I'm not getting that!"

* * *

Sam returned to practice after a few days no worse for wear, the team was happy to have him back.

"Hey Sam." Shey called to him after practice when they got into the locker room.

"Hey Shey."

"Practice was intense, huh?"

"Yeah it was. Thank God it's the weekend."

"You're lucky you missed the last few practices...it feels like I don't have a summer break."

"Believe me, my Dad didn't let me lie around and watch TV. He said he didn't want me to fall behind."

"That sucks. Hey, but ya know what this weekend is?"

"What?"

"Team initiation and this year we get to go!" Shey nudged Sam excitedly with his elbow.

"I don't think I'm gonna go." Sam replied. He watched as Dean came over with Ross and their other friend Calvin.

"What? Why not? I've been waiting for this forever!" Shey cried.

"Waiting for what?" Calvin asked butting into the conversation.

"Initiation for the freshmen." Shey explained. "Sam says he doesn't wanna go."

"What do ya mean you don't wanna go Runt? It's fun." Calvin said as a snapped a rubber band on Ross's forearm, Ross glared at him and punched him in the stomach.

"It's team bonding, you should go." Ross said in his characteristically soft voice.

"What is this peer pressure?" Sam looked around at all the guys who were trying to persuade him to go to the initiation.

"You're going whether you like it or not Sammy." Dean said matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah? Are you gonna make me?"

"Yeah and even if I didn't Dad thinks it's an important part of the season." Dean replied as he casually flung his jockstrap in the air and it came to land right on Calvin's head.

Calvin let out a shriek in disgust he shook his head sending the jockstrap flying across the locker room. All the boys were laughing hysterically.

"You scream like a girl!" Shey blurted loudly.

Calvin glared at everyone. "You would scream too if Dean's sweaty jockstrap touched your head.

"What's the matter Calvin?" Dean asked sweetly. "You've never seen one that big? What's yours? Extra small?"

"Shut up!" Calvin growled.

"I guess we won't be able to borrow condoms from you—good to know."

"You can't borrow any from me because I use them too fast." Calvin replied cockily.

"P-lease." Dean scoffed. "We can't borrow condoms from you cuz you don't have any...they don't make them that small."

After the laughter settled, Sam got back on the subject. "Why does Dad think initiation is so important?"

"Like Ross said 'team bonding'. It makes us respect each other. It makes us work better as a team."

"How does leaving some poor freshman out in the middle of nowhere and making them walk back help us work better as a team?"

"Hell if I know—but it's fun." Dean replied all the boys laughed.

"It's not fun, it's cruel." Sam protested.

"Oh please, you only think that cuz you've only ever been on the receiving end of it. When you're the one with the car it's a lot more fun—you'll see." Calvin insisted. "And besides, it's not like we force them to go, they don't have to do it if they don't want to."

"Well if they don't go you'd probably treat them like crap or shun them for the whole season."

"Yeah, so?"

"Yeah, even Ross does it and you know him, he wouldn't hurt a fly." Dean said patting his best friend's broad shoulder. "Tell 'im Ross."

Ross shrugged at Sam. "No one ever gets hurt Runt and it is kinda fun..."

* * *

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Hey there,

Thanks you so much for reading and to those of you who reviewed.

I am so sorry for the wait...really, I haven't given up on this story, I'm just having a little writers block so if you have any ideas let me know.

I always have this problem with my stories...I have the ending in my head from the start, but the middle is always a struggle. It'll get done though, it just might take some time.

And chapter 10 for Thin Line will be up shortly...sorry for the wait.

Thank you,

callit


	5. Chapter 5

**The Only Game:**

Chapter 5

* * *

"Sammy hurry up!" Dean barked through Sam's bedroom door.

"Go away it's Saturday...I'm sleepin' in!"

"Don't make me come in there! Dad says we have to run a couple miles today and Ross is picking us up in a little while, we're meeting everyone else at the school. So either we do it now or we'll have to do it when we get back and it'll be 102 degrees outside."

Sam sighed dramatically and through back the covers, he glanced out his window. "Dean! It's still dark freakin' out side!"

"Get over it. We have to get an early start, it's long drive out there." Dean said.

* * *

After Sam and Dean went for their run and showered, Ross came to get them. The sun was just rising as they arrived at the school.

There were two four-row vans so the boys separated into two groups and they were going to two different places. There were nine 'freshmeat' altogether four went in the van with Sam, Dean, Ross, Calvin, Shey and a few other upperclassmen and five went in the other van.

They were blindfolded before they were allowed in the van, then everyone crammed in. The vans were crowded and there was no acknowledgement of personal space.

Sam was starting to feel claustrophobic, he didn't know why he felt so weird, but he could feel a sense of dread building in his stomach. Something was wrong he could feel it.

"Jeez Sam lighten up." Shey said it was hard to hear over all the other boys' excited chatter. "What's up with you?"

"Nothin' I just—" Sam started.

"Aw Sam you're such a downer." Calvin cut Sam off before he could say anything.

Sam remained quiet for the rest of the drive, the further along they got the harder Sam's heart pounded in his chest. They drove down a long bumpy dirt road and up a good-sized hill where the van finally came to a stop. Sam had been so deep in thought that he hadn't even noticed that the van wasn't moving anymore until everyone in the van quieted.

"Okay everybody out!" Dean called. "You can take your blindfolds off now."

Sam watched all the freshmen pull their blindfolds off and everyone get out. He was the last to step out of the van. The boys were already forming a circle listen to Dean give a few quick instruction and Ross handed out water bottles.

The freshmen were all eager and they were listening attentively. The four boys were obviously excited about being accepted by the older boys.

"Do not split up." Dean said. "Drink plenty of water. We don't want any of you keeling over from dehydration."

He could feel his anxiety building, as the upperclassmen piled back into the van, get ready to leave the freshmen behind. He couldn't bring himself to get back into the van.

"Sammy, stop daydreaming and get your ass back in here." Dean called. When Sam didn't move he went over to his brother, that's when he noticed how pale Sam was. "Are you okay Kiddo?"

"Dean I don't think this is such a good idea."

"Sure it is, stop worrying they'll be fine and it's not like we're gonna get in trouble or anything."

"I don't care about getting in trouble! Something's not right. I don't think we should leave them out here."

"I don't know what you're freaking out about, but we don't have time for this—I'm gonna drop dead from hunger any second now." Dean said.

"Fine then go, I'll stay."

"No you will not! You didn't bring your inhaler and I'm not leaving you got here." Dean replied drug Sam to the van and forced him in, shut the door and jumped in before Sam could protest any further. "Let's go."

Sam leaned his head against the window.

_Sam glanced around the house, he'd never seen it before, but it seemed like every teenager in town was there. Everyone was dressed so nicely in black suits and dresses. He knew that he was also wearing a suit because he could feel his tie choking him. _

_He felt a hand lightly grip his shoulder and he looked up to see Dean standing slightly behind him._

_Sam tried to ask him where they were and what was going on, but he couldn't find the words. Dean shushed him and massaged his shoulder, Dean was saying something that he couldn't make out, his lips were moving, but no sound was coming out._

_He could feel Dean pulling him, but he didn't want to go he planted his feet and tried to resist. Dean stopped trying to force Sam forward and instead turned back toward him. _

_Dean took Sam's face in his hands, he spoke again, but like before there was no sound and this time he was more firm and forceful. Sam could feel tears building in his eyes and he could feel the other people in the room starring at him. _

_Dean cupped Sam's neck, pulled Sam's head to his shoulder, and let Sam sob in his arms with the whole room watching. _

Sam's head slammed into the window when he jerked awake, he was back in the rowdy van with loud music blaring through the speakers.

* * *

­

The two vans met back at the school and the boys carried out another part of the tradition, they were meeting for breakfast at a little diner near by and then they would do to the team captain's house to spend the day hanging out and watching movies.

"Dean can we please just go home?" Sam pleaded.

"Yeah, we're going home right after breakfast and the guys are gonna come over and watch movies." Dean said.

"No, now please?"

"I'm hungry Sammy, we're eating first."

"But Dean—" Sam started but Dean was already walking away. Sam growled in frustration, no one ever listened to him.

Sam went with the rest of the team to the diner; as much as he tried to enjoy himself, he couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I think Sam needs a nap." Calvin teased. "He's grumpy today."

"Seriously, Dude, pull that stick out of your ass." Dean said slapping Sam in the head.

"Don't!" Sam hissed.

"Today is supposed to be fun Runt, stop raining on the parade." Calvin said. "He needs a drink."

"Don't even joke about that." Dean said. "You are not getting my baby brother drunk, no matter dull and boring he is."

* * *

The freshmen were not expected back until later that evening. So after breakfast the boys went to the Winchester residence where they watched every slasher film they could find.

"Hey I'm gonna order some pizzas. What does everybody want?" Dean asked, everyone shouted out his favorite pizza toppings all at once.

Dean called the pizza place to have them deliver. "Damn it, I have to go got the pizza, the stupid delivery boy's car broke down. Come on Sam you're coming with me. Hey Ross we're taking your car."

"Whatever." Ross said not glancing up from television screen, he tossed the keys in Dean's direction.

When they get into the car, Sam noticed that Dean hadn't started the car he asked. "What are you waiting for?"

"What's up with you today, Sammy? You're acting really weird. Are you sick or something?" Dean asked worriedly.

"I already told you Dean I have a bad feeling. I don't think we should have left those guys up there."

"Why not?"

"I don't know something just doesn't feel right."

"You're gonna have to do better than that."

"I don't know what else you want me to say...I just have a bad feeling and I think we should go up there and get them."

"But why Sam? What do you think is gonna happen?"

"I don't know! I just have a bad feeling."

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Well..."

"What?"

"I have had this feeling all day and then on the way back from dropping those guys off I had this dream..."

"'bout what?"

"We were in this house—"

"Whose house?"

"I don't know, but the whole school was there and everyone was dressed in black—I think it was a wake."

"A wake...like for a dead person?"

"Yeah."

"So what...you think someone's gonna die then?"

"I don't know what to think."

"It was just a dream."

"It didn't feel like a normal dream...it felt real. I wish you'd believe me."

"I do believe you." Dean said, trying to soothe his agitated brother. "I believe you had a really freaky dream."

"I'm telling you it wasn't just a dream!" Sam yelled in frustration.

"How do you know?" Dean asked calmly.

"I just do!"

"That's not much to go on—"

"Look, I know that you don't believe me, but please can't we just go check on them? They can't be too far from town and if you're right and they're fine then I won't say another word about it." Sam begged. Dean seemed to be thinking about it, so Sam gave him the puppy-dog eyes. "Please Dean?"

When Dean sighed, Sam knew he had won. "Fine, but if I'm right, you're buying the pizza."

"Deal."

* * *

"Jeez." Dean muttered has the drove down the dirt road to the bottom of the hill, that they had left the boys at the top of. "They sure are taking their time...they should be here by now."

Sam's heart sank when he heard that. "W-what'd you mean?"

"I mean they've been up here since 5:30 this morning and it's 1:00 in the afternoon now. They should be about a quarter of the way down the road." Dean said. He didn't sound worried, he sounded annoyed. "They're just taking their sweet time, they're not gonna get home 'til after dark at the rate they're going."

Dean put the car in park and Sam glanced at his brother. "What are you doing?"

"You're not really gonna make me go up this hill are you?"

"Yes. Don't you wanna see what's taking them so long?"

"I _want_ to order some pizza and go home. The guys are probably wondering where we are. You know how they get when they're hungry." Dean huffed.

Something caught Sam's attention outside the car; he looked out the window to find a boy, one of the freshmen coming towards them in a dead sprint, waving his arms wildly in the air.

* * *

Hey there friends,

Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate the suggestion you gave me, they were very helpful and inspiring.

I should warn you that the next chapter is a smidge **gory**.

Thank you Still Awesome2009 and Nicole for the suggestions that inspired the next few chapters! I really appreciate it.

Thanks again,

callit


	6. Chapter 6

**The Only Game:**

Chapter 6

* * *

I would just like to warn you once more time that this chapter is really gory!

"Dean! Dean look! It's Frank Crawford." Sam called as he pointed out the window to the boy who was running up to the car. Sam quickly got out and hurried to the boy.

Dean got out more slowly and went over to where Sam and Frank were now standing. "Didn't I tell you to stay together?" Dean asked.

"I know." Frank said as he panted heavily. "But-but Mike—"

"What happened to Mike?" Sam asked.

"He said he had to piss so we told him to go find a bush, ya know?" Frank asked both Sam and Dean nodded.

"We waited for him on the road, but he was taking a real long time so me, Ryan and Chris thought we oughta go lookin' for him."

"And what?" Dean asked impatiently. "Is he hurt?"

Frank shook his head. "We couldn't find him."

Sam looked up at Dean with big worried eyes. "Go back to town and get help."

"Hell no, we'll _all_ go back to town and get the cops."

"I'm not going! I gonna help them look, just go." Sam ordered.

"Hey Frank, how old are you?" Dean asked.

"Fourteen." Frank replied.

"Does your dad ever let you drive his truck?"

"Dean!" Sam called impatiently. "What does this have to do with anything? I'm going!" Sam started up the hill.

"Just hold on a sec." Dean said turning back to Frank, Sam ignored his brother and continued up the hill leaving his brother and Frank behind. "Does your dad let you drive his truck?" Dean asked again.

Frank shrugged. "Sometimes."

"Are you any good at it?"

"I guess."

"You ever crashed?"

"No..."

"Good, because this is Ross's car and he'll be pissed at both of us if you get so much as a scratch on it. You don't want Ross to kick your ass do you?"

Frank looked very confused. "No."

"Me neither. So when you drive back to town be very careful, wear your seatbelt."

"Wait, what? I can't drive back to town, I—"

"Why not? It's just like driving your dad's truck, you can do it, I know you can, now get going and remember what I said."

Dean handed Frank the keys. He didn't wait for Frank to get in the car before a took off running up the hill after Sam. "Sam wait up."

* * *

There where two boys standing on the road Curtis and Alan, the other two freshmen, Sam and Dean hurried over to them.

"Any luck?" Dean asked.

"No, we can't find him anywhere, it's like he just disappeared." Curtis answered.

"Sam you go with Alan that way and Curtis and I will go this way. Just yell if you find anything and we'll do the same."

Sam and Alan navigated their way through the tall trees that covered the hillside. Alan was obviously terrified, he was following close to Sam. He jumped at every little sound he heard and he looked glanced behind himself to make sure nothing was following them.

The sound of a twig snapping echoed through the forest, Alan let out a squeaky scream and hugged Sam's arm.

"What the hell was that?" Alan asked in a hushed voice, as if he thought something might hear him.

Sam shook Alan off his arm and continued walking. "You stepped in a twig Sherlock."

"Oh." Alan said after a sigh of relief.

Sam was looking closely at the ground, hoping to find footprints or any sign that Mike had been there.

Sam finally spotted some footprints. "Hey look at that!"

Alan jumped and grabbed on to Sam's shirt. "Oh crap, what is it?"

"Settle down, Dude, it's just some footprints." Sam replied. He started fallowing them, he only made it a few feet when the ground got rocky and he could no longer make out any prints.

He knelt down on the ground examining it carefully. He could now see a gray rock stained with what looked to be a thick crimson liquid. He reached a shaky hand out to touch the liquid; he prayed that it wasn't what he thought it was.

The liquid was sticky and lukewarm. Sam brought his hand to his face so that he could smell it, he cringed as the metallic odor filled his nose—blood.

With the smell came a strange feeling of déjà vu. Pain shot through Sam's head, he saw white, but only for a second then his vision cleared.

"Sam?" Alan called.

"Huh?" Sam breathed in a distracted tone.

He didn't hear Alan's reply. The pain came back, more intensely this time, everything went white again.

_Sam was watching at himself, he was laying in the dirt, shirtless, in some sort of cave, he was covering his eyes and sobs were shaking his body. _

_There was blood everywhere, all over him and the surrounding rocks. There was something on the ground, not far from where he was laying..._

Sam snapped back to reality, the headache lingered.

"What the hell? That was freakin' weird." Sam muttered to himself as a massaged his temple with his hand that didn't have blood on it.

Alan was shaking his shoulder, reminding Sam of his presence.

"Sam, what is it?"

"Go find my brother." Sam said calmly, he didn't want Alan to panic. He wiped the blood off his hand on to his jeans and stood up.

"You want me to go...alone?" Alan gulped.

"Just go right back the way we came, he shouldn't be too far."

"I c-can't."

"Alan, you have to go, I think Mike might be hurt, so run and get Dean." Sam ordered. Alan hesitated, but eventually turned and took off running like a bat out of hell.

Sam continued following the blood. There were only small drops, so Sam had to watch the ground closely so he wouldn't lose the trail. Two large boulders came into view they were leaning together, but there was a space in between the boulders and the blood led to the opening.

He approached cautiously, he couldn't see what was in between the boulders, but he could hear soft growling. He was so focused on trying to stay quiet and unnoticed that he wasn't watching where he was going.

He tripped he scraped his knees and elbow, but was otherwise unharmed. However, when he fell, he had put his hand right in a large puddle of blood. It was still warm, like it had just left someone's body.

When he looked down at his hand gasped, he quickly got to his feet looking for something to wipe the blood off on, but in his haste, he tripped over himself, landing on his hands and knees. He started vomiting.

Sam tried to regain his composure, finding nothing else to clean his hand with, he used his pants. He went back to the puddle of blood, without looking at it he kicked he kicked dirt into it, he throw up again. He didn't want Dean to come upon it.

He hoped that whatever was between the boulders hadn't heard him. He looked around, searching for something he could use as a weapon. He filled his pockets with rocks and grabbed a thick branch that he found laying on the ground.

He inched his way to the boulders, he wasn't sure what to expect yet. He was sure there would be a dead body involved and it would probably be Mike's. He finally got close enough to peer into the opening between the two boulders.

He dropped the branch he had been holding and dropped to his knees to be sick again. There was nothing left in his stomach, so he was reduced to dry heaving.

In between the two boulders, he could see blood splattered everywhere and large puddles of it on the dirt floor. Sam could see something else, it was large, fuzzy and dark brown, by the sounds it was making it was obviously a bear.

At closer inspection, Sam saw two legs sticking out, but the rest of the body was blocked by the bear's bulk. If he had any doubts before, he was now absolutely sure that the blood he had seen belonged to Mike.

He had heard that bears were getting disparate for food this year, someone put poison into the creek where the bears usually got fish—he had even done a paper on it—they'd been going into houses and breaking into refrigerators, but he didn't know they ate people!

Sam pulled himself together and grabbed the rocks out of his pocket. He started to throw them at the bear, grabbing more off the forest floor and chucking those also. The bear looked up from its meal, searching for the intruder, sniffing and growling loudly.

Sam picked up the branch that he had dropped and smacked the bear in nose with it—he heard somewhere that that worked for sharks, so why not a bear?

The bear swatted at Sam with its large paw. Its claws caught Sam's upper arm, but Sam hit it again, harder this time. The bear swatted again in return, this time gazing Sam's check.

Sam was about to hit it again when the bear turned and ran out the opposite opening of the boulders. Sam dropped to the ground beside Mike's mutilated body. Sam was sure he was dead, there was blood everywhere, Sam was now covered in it too, but as Sam stared into Mike's bloody face, he saw the boy's eyes blink opened.

"M-mike?" Sam stammered stunned that the boy was still alive.

"...am..." Mike called softly.

"Shh, Mike, don't talk."

It was a wonder the boy could speak at all, his neck was clawed. Sam slipped out of the light summer jacket he was wearing and pulled his shirt off. He balled the shirt up and pressed it against the worst of the wounds, in Mike's midsection, with one hand and with the other he put his jacket over the boy.

He knew it was a futile effort, Mike would be dead soon, but Sam was going to try anyway. He pulled the boys head onto his lap.

"It'll be over soon." Sam said holding the boy's hand with his free hand, he held his tears in.

It wasn't long before Mike's eyes went back in his head so that only the whites were showing and his head rolled limply to the side. Sam let go of the bloody t-shirt he was holding and slid his hand to Mike's neck, feeling for a pulse.

When he felt none, Sam pushed himself back against the side of the boulder, curled into the fetal position and started to sob uncontrollably.

* * *

Hey there,

Thank you so much for reading and you reviewers are awesome!

Sorry this one took me a while, I had to rewrite it, the first version I wrote was _way_ too gory—I'm talking dismemberment! So I had to reign it in a little, this one is still pretty messy. (I really wanted to use the gross one though;)).

Thanks again,

callit


	7. Chapter 7

**The Only Game:**

Chapter 7

Enjoy...

* * *

Sam sat with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head buried in his arms, he didn't know how long he had been sitting there sobbing and he didn't care.

"Sam?" A distant voice called causing Sam's head to shoot up.

No, it was just the wind, he was imagining things...watching your teammate being eaten by a ravenous bear could do that to you.

"Sam!" The voice was clearer now, more than just a whisper in the wind.

Sam got to his feet, but the pungent metallic odor made Sam lightheaded. Sam staggered to the front opening.

"Dean!" He called his voice didn't seem to carry.

"Sammy?"

Sam shucked in a deep breath and mustered up all of his remaining strength. "DEAN!" After expelling all the air from his lungs, he crumbled to the ground.

He smiled softly when he saw his big brother running towards him. Dean was on the ground next to him in mere seconds.

Dean grabbed Sam by the shoulders, taking in the blood that was covering his baby brother's bare chest and jeans. "Sammy, where are you hurt?"

"I found him Dean...he-he's..." Sam couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Is he hurt Sam? Where is he?"

Sam looked down at the ground and shook his head. "He's dead."

Dean gaped. "Dead? Are you sure?"

Sam laughed—was he sure?! The boy had died in his lap; he was covered with the boy's blood.

Dean was concerned by Sam's response to his question. "Sammy? Hey kiddo, tell me what happened."

Sam just looked at him for a moment. "There-there was b-blood on this rock and I saw... something."

"What'd you see?"

"I don't know...it was weird, it was like a dream or something, but I was awake...it seemed so real—it was real." Sam got frustrated as he tried to explain what had happened to him when he smelt the blood.

"Whoa, settle down Kiddo. Breathe." Dean said. "Did you hit your head?"

Sam shook his head. "No...just—never mind." Maybe it was best if Dean didn't know. "I found the blood and I told Alan to go get you." The tears started again. Sam couldn't go on, couldn't tell Dean what he had seen.

"Hey, hey." Dean said pulling his brother into his arms, rocking him and shushing him.

Dean didn't know what to think, his brother was covered in blood, telling him that a boy was dead. Where had things gone so wrong? They were just carrying out an innocent tradition handed down to them by the generations before them.

Dean could still remember his freshmen year, sure, the initiation had sucked, but it was harmless.

"Help will be here soon Sammy. I heard the cars coming a while ago. It might take them a while to hike out here though..." Dean told Sam.

Sam wasn't comforted by the news though, after all, what we're they going to do? Mike was already dead.

"Sam?" Dean dreaded asking but he knew he had to. "Where'd you leave... where'd you leave the body?" Sam pointed toward the space between the boulders. Dean started to pull away from Sam and he stood up. "I'm just gonna—"

"No!" Sam shouted. He jumped to his feet and tried to get Dean away from the boulders. "Don't!"

"Sam I need—"

"You don't wanna go in there Dean—please just stay here...it's bad."

"Sam, tell me what happened to him."

"B-bear, a bear...got 'im."

Dean nodded he wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. "Did you see it?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded. "I followed the blood here and I saw the bear."

"What did you do?"

"I throw some rocks at it to make it stop...to make it leave Mike alone, then I hit it with a branch and it ran off."

Dean was so relieved, he was so glad it hadn't been Sam, was that wrong to think? He didn't care, he would say it again, he was so glad it wasn't Sam.

"So all that blood...it's Mike's?—except your face." Dean said. He gently turned Sam's head so he could get a better look at the marks on his face, he decided they weren't serious.

"Well..." Sam turned his arm so that Dean could see the deep claw marks.

"Damn it Sammy!" Dean pulled off his shirt and wrapped it tightly around Sam's upper arm.

Sam watched Dean dispassionately, his mind wondered back over the day's events. He started to shake violently.

"Sammy? What's wrong?" Dean asked. He looked into his brother's pale face. Sam's face was covered in dirt and blood, the only clean part of him was the trial the tears had made down his cheeks when they escaped from his eyes.

"I couldn't help him Dean."

"Of course you couldn't Sam. You didn't know this was going to happen."

"I knew something was going to happen. I shouldn't have let them stay out here."

Dean sighed. "That dream was just a coincidence, it didn't mean anything."

"Sure." Sam agreed listlessly.

"We have to get outta here."

"No." Sam said bring his knees to chest and laying his head on them.

Dean gently tugged Sam's arm. "Come on, Sammy. What if that freakin' bear comes back?—we don't have a gun or anything."

"I don't care."

"Damn it Sam!" Dean grabbed Sam's uninjured arm and started to pull him to his feet.

"No!" Sam yelled pulling his arm from Dean's grasp and sat back down.

"Sammy, please."

"We can't just leave him out here..."

Dean was about to argued further when he saw rescue team coming towards them. There was no way to get a vehicle out to where they were, so they were all on foot.

"Hey!" Dean called to them waving his hand in the air. "Over here!" The rescue team hurried over to the boys.

"Are you boys okay?" One of the rescuers asked. "The paramedics are right behind us."

"My little brother is hurt." Dean cleared his throat. "We already found the kid...he's dead." Dean explained keeping a tight hold on distraught brother. Dean nodded towards the two boulders. "He's in there."

"My name is Jerry we're here to help you, can tell me what happened?" One of the men asked, while others went to the boulders.

"Bear attack, my brother said." Dean answered. Sam didn't even bother to look up at the men; he kept his face buried in Dean's shoulder.

Another man who had gone into the opening reappeared beside them, walkie-talkie in hand. "We need a body bag." The man looked at Jerry. "The kid's half eaten."

It seemed like forever before the paramedics arrived, the journey had been slowed considerably because of the gurney they were carrying with them. They got Mike's body in a body bag and wrapped up Sam's arm with instructions to get to the emergency room ASAP for a proper cleaning and stitches.

Only after the body was gone, did Dean look in the opening. There was blood splattered everywhere and he couldn't imagine what Sam seen.

* * *

John had met the boys in the emergency room. The doctor had just finished the stitches in Sam's arm and had bandaged it; he announced that there was no sign of severe muscle damage. He also cleaned the superficial graze on Sam cheek.

"Keep the wound clean and dry. It's important that you keep a close eye on his arm to make sure that it doesn't get infected, animal claws are known to carried all kinds of bacteria." The doctor told them.

"We will." John agreed. "Come on boys, let's get outta here." He wrapped his arm around Sam who had been given an over sized hospital gown as a temporary replacement for his shirt. Dean only had a tight white wifebeater on since he had sacrificed his shirt to make a bandage for Sam, not that it matter much, it was 102 degrees outside.

Both boys were dirty beyond belief, they cleaned up the best they could in the bathroom at the hospital, but their jeans were caked with dirt and Sam's were stiff with dried blood.

Dean wished John had thought to bring them extra clothes, but he knew that John's mind just didn't think that way.

Sam hadn't said a word since he and Dean had left the woods.

* * *

Dean had his arm wrapped around Sam's shoulders as they walked into the house. Sam seemed steady enough on his feet, but he was so pale and quiet that he had Dean worried.

John had taken them by the McDonalds drive thru on the way home, they hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning at 7:00am and it was now nearly 6:00pm. Sam wouldn't eat anything though.

The second the boys got through the door, Sam broke anyway from Dean and ran to his room. He didn't even bother to close his door, before he tore off his bloody pants and throw them on the ground. The blood had soaked through his jeans and had stained his legs.

He slipped out of the hospital gown and tossed it aside also, so he stood in only wearing boxers. John and Dean stood in the doorway.

"You okay Kiddo?" John asked gently.

"I need a shower." Sam replied plainly. He pushed past his Dad and brother and hurried down the hallway to the bathroom.

* * *

Sam stood in the shower, watching the blood stain the water as it dripped off his body. He watched thoughtfully as it went towards the drain.

He wondered if he should let the blood go down the drain. It was Mike's blood and he was just letting it go.

Mike was dead.

He knew that was true, but he couldn't seem to wrap his mind around it.

Mike's parents had lost a child today. Sam knew Mike's parents, Mike had three sisters, and he was the youngest. He was the only boy, his parents pride and joy and his sisters doted on him also. They must be devastated.

Sam hadn't known Mike very well. Sam had tutored Mike in math once, he was nice enough. He certainly hadn't done anything to deserve being mauled by a bear.

And he wasn't even going to think about that dream or vision...or whatever it was, that he had when he smelt that blood. In fact, he was just going to pretend it didn't happen. Dean and Dad never needed to know. If they did find out they might just stick him in looney bin.

Sam went over the day in his head again and again. He wanted to find something to blame this whole stupid day on.

"Ya know what?" He muttered to himself with a humorless laugh. "None of this would have happened if it wasn't for freakin' football."

God, he hated football.

* * *

Hey there friends,

Thanks for reading and reviewing I love hearing what you have to say. Sorry for the wait. I wanted to get this up before I leave town for a week, even though I just got back from an unexpected month long trip.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and writer's block permitting, I'll have the next chapter up soon. And there might even be some football in it ;)!

Take care!


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